How the Seahawks Smothered Patriots in Super Bowl LX

Seattle Seahawks safety Julian Love sealed the team’s dominant Super Bowl LX victory against the New England Patriots with an interception early in the fourth quarter.

“I’d be kidding if I didn’t dream of that in the backyard when I was 8, 9 years old,” Love said. “To see that ball in the air and it was right to me, all I thought in my mind was, ‘Just catch it.’”

Sunday brought a dreamy night for others, too. First, the entire Seahawks roster. Then the NFL romantics rightly geeked about an outdoor venue and radiant sunshine at kickoff.

But there truly proved to be no ceiling for those prognosticators outside Boston who pegged this as a Seahawks conquest before kickoff. The Seattle ‘D’ was stifling, Sam Darnold showed enough poise, and it all added up to Seahawks 29, Patriots 13.

Seattle constantly pressured New England quarterback Drake Maye, producing six sacks, two interceptions and a lost fumble.

Uchenna Nwosu snagged the team’s other pick and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown. The fumble set the Seahawks up with a short field and led to their lone offensive touchdown, a 16-yard connection from Darnold to AJ Barner that gave Seattle a 19-0 lead with 13:24 remaining.

“If you’re able to get to the quarterback,” Seahawks defensive tackle Leonard Williams said, “that’s the one thing that’s going to always shut down a team.”

You don’t have to tell Maye twice.

Sure, he responded with a 35-yard scoring pass to Mack Hollins less than a minute after the Barner TD and later had the ball with the chance to make it a one-score game. Truth was, though, a Seattle unit nicknamed “The Dark Side” that produced the top-ranked scoring ‘D’ in the league had the Patriots saying good night far earlier.

New England punted on its first eight full possessions before the ninth brought a fumble.

“Which plays would I like to have back? I’d like to go back to the beginning and redo it,” Maye said. “Got to be better with the football, make better decisions, and I’ve got to make better throws when the game is like that.”

While Maye was a contender for league MVP honors and delivered solid play down the stretch of postseason victories against the Chargers, Texans, and Broncos, the Super Bowl certainly didn’t portray the optimism he brought to the organization in his second season.

He sustained a shoulder injury two weeks ago and didn’t always look himself on Sunday. Of course, the Seahawks played a role in that, as well.

The Patriots defense remained the team’s calling card but was unable to generate points the way it did in many of New England’s 17 victories.

Darnold completed only 50% of his passes while star wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba, later hampered by injury, was limited to four receptions for 27 yards.

“We had a really good year, one that I’m proud of,” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said. “This game isn’t a reflection of our year. They [the Seahawks] are a good football team. I hope we’re able to learn from this. We understand how hard it is to get here.”

Prevailing is tougher still.

The Patriots’ dreams will have to wait.